Professor. Political Analyst. Pundit.

Current Affairs

You Can Now See “The Forum with Michael Fauntroy”

"The Forum with Michael Fauntroy" is now on the air! I'm really excited about the show, a 30 minute one-on-one interview with newsmakers, authors, and others and hope you'll check it out when you get a moment. So far, I've interviewed former member of Congress Walter E. Fauntroy, TransAfrica Forum President Nicole Lee, professor and author James Pfiffner, professor and author Susan Tolchin, and ACLU of the National Capital Area Executive Director Johnny Barnes.

I also hope you'll be sure to tell a friend about "The Forum." The show can be seen online at GMU-TV at the following times:

A Disturbing Lack of Diversity on PBS News and Public Affairs Programs

Count me among the millions of people who value public broadcasting. I think it is a viable and necessary alternative to commercial broadcasting which, too often, waters down its ability to tell the truth for fear of running afoul of its corporate benefactors. However, a recent study conducted by Fairness & Accuracy in Reporting (FAIR) leads me to wonder if I may be giving too much credit to the news and public affiars broadcasting offered by PBS. According to FAIR:

The NewsHour's guestlist was 80 percent male and 82 percent white, with a pronounced tilt toward elites who rarely "go unheard," like current and former government and military officials, corporate representatives and journalists (74 percent). Since 2006, appearances by women of color actually decreased by a third, to only 4 percent of U.S. sources.

Viewers were five times as likely to see guests representing corporations (10 percent v. 2 percent) than representatives of public interest groups who might counterweigh such moneyed interests--labor, consumer and environmental organizations.

While all this is disappointing, here's the stunner for me--

The NewsHour, "public TV's nightly newscast," is actually privately owned. For-profit conglomerate Liberty Media has held a controlling stake in the NewsHour since 1994. The company is run by industry bigfoot John Malone, who has declared that "nobody wants to go out and invent something and invest hundreds of millions of dollars of risk capital for the public interest." Public dollars still support the NewsHour, and former PBS president Ervin Duggan declared the show "ours and ours alone," but Liberty CEO Greg Maffei refers to the program as "not our largest holding," but "one we're very proud of."

I know that qualified people exist who represent a wider swath of the American populace (I, if I may be so bold, am one of those people). So why does PBS do so poorly when I'm so sure their audience would not respond negatively to a more diverse pool of analysts, commentators, and subject matter?

Here is the link to FAIR's magazine Extra!, which details the disappointment.

Study: Foreclosure Crisis Disproportionately Injured Black Homeowners

African Americans have been disproportionately injured by the foreclosure crisis, according to a recently published study by Princeton University professors Jacob Rugh and Douglas Massey. Among lenders that went bankrupt in 2007, blacks were three times more likely than whites to receive subprime loans, according to a previous study that the authors cite in their report. Among lenders that did not go bankrupt, blacks were equally as likely as whites to receive "predatory" treatment.

This is in line with many other reports (and here and here) of the recent foreclosure crisis and how jurisdicitons with large Black populations -- such as Prince George's County, Maryland and Atlanta -- are disproportionately impacted.

U.S. Income Gap Grows

Here is an Associated Press piece on the growing income gap in the United States. According to the piece, which is based on newly released Census Bureau data, found that the "wealthiest 10 percent of Americans -- those making more than $138,000 each year -- earned 11.4 times the roughly $12,000 made by those living near or below the poverty line in 2008."

This growing gap feeds the economic insecurity felt by millions of Americans. Economic insecurity helps to feed the voter anger that is fueling is likely to sweep Democrats from control of the U.S. House of Representatives. Of course, the gaps has been intensified by Republican policies during the Bush years that cut taxes on the rich while, at the same time, pushing down wages for everyone else. The irony is that many of the same voters who were damaged by Republican policies will vote for GOP candidates who embrace those same policies. Talk about voting against one's interests!!

Michael Fauntroy to Serve as Panelist in “We Count!” Symposium

I'm pleased to announce that I will be a panelist on the We Count! symposium on Saturday, March 20th at the Jones Convention Center at Chicago State University. I will be part of a group discussion on the kinds of issues that should be included in a political, economic, and social agenda for African Americans. Many thanks to Tavis Smiley for inviting me to join in the discussion. I'm looking forward to participating and consider it an honor.

C-SPAN will broadcast the event live at 9:00 AM Eastern. You may also check it out live online at UStream.

New Audio: Mike Fauntroy and Ron Christie Discuss Politics on Up Front with Tony Cox

Here is a link to a conversation I had with Ron Christie, former aid to George W. Bush and Dick Cheney that aired on Up Front with Tony Cox. We discussed the Massachusetts U.S. Senate race (and its implications for health care reform legislation), the U.S. Supreme Court ruling on corporate campaign finance, and the politics of Haitian relief efforts.

Tavis Smiley Launches New PBS Series

Tavis Smiley is launching a new television series on PBS that promises to be informative and inspirational.

In the first edition of Tavis Smiley Reports, which airs this Wednesday, January 27 at 8:00 PM Eastern, Tavis uses exclusive access to Hillary Clinton to examine her first year as secretary of state and looks ahead to the challenges of the next three years.

Three other specials are planned. The second, to air on March 31 at 8:00 PM Eastern, Tavis Smiley Reports examines one of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr.’s greatest speeches, “Beyond Vietnam: A Time to Break Silence,” which he delivered on April 4, 1967, at Riverside Church in New York City. The third episode, to air Summer 2010, looks at the reconstruction of New Orleans in the five years since the devastation caused by Hurricane Katrina. The airdate and topic of the fourth Tavis Smiley Reports will be announced in 2010.

Michael Fauntroy on Tavis Smiley on PRI

Here is a link to a "year in review" discussion in which I participated in on the Tavis Smiley radio show on Public Radio International. I, along with Deroy Murdock, Kathryn Lopez, and Connie Rice analyzed everything from the Inauguration of Barack Obama to Tiger Woods and a bunch of stuff in between.

Michael Fauntroy on C-SPAN’s “Q and A” Sunday Night

I recorded an edition of C-SPAN's "Q and A" that will air on Sunday, December 13th at 8PM Eastern (with replays at 11PM Eastern Sunday and 6AM Eastern on Monday). You can see it here if you missed the earlier airings.

Mike Fauntroy and Ron Christie Discuss Politics on Up Front with Tony Cox

Here is a clip from the November 20th edition of "Up Front with Tony Cox" in which Ron Christie and I discuss the week's news. The show is distributed by National Public Radio and is a production of the African American Public Radio Consortium.

Fauntroy and Carol Swain Debate Politics on Up Front with Tony Cox

Here is a clip of my discussion with Carol Swain on Up From with Tony
Cox. The show is produced by the African American Public Radio
Consortium and airs on NPR and public radio stations around the country.